Unrequited
by Jack Noshima
Summary: Things aren't what they seem for the CHERUBs. What once seemed like hate now will turn to love, but as with love not everything works out well. Unrequited love grows and passion blossoms. Finished, will start a sequal if I get a few good reviews please RR
1. Chapter 1 The Meteor Shower

**Author Note**

I do not own CHERUB, its characters, places or things in it. In this story there will be use of foul language. I created this story because when reading the books it just sprung out at me that the events that are going to unfold should unfold and it would be an interesting thing if they did. To set the story at the best possible place I have had to do it out of cannon and it is set after The Sleepwalker. For official purposes these children do not exist (sorry, couldn't resist :p). Enjoy.

Chapter 1 – Meteor Shower

It was 11 o'clock at night on CHERUB campus. Although it was winter the night sky was devoid of everything but stars. It was a new moon, so where ever there wasn't lighting on the grounds it was pitch black, and because they were so far out in the countryside, if you weren't near a light you could see every star in the sky.

James Adams stepped out of his room. He looked in both directions before heading towards the lift. The doors opened with a ping. James was shocked to se the lift wasn't empty. Stood inside the lift were; James' sister Lauren, Rat, Bethany, Jake, Bruce, Kerry and his girlfriend Dana.

"Going somewhere, bro?" Lauren asked with a smile, thinking he was sneaking off somewhere.

"Just going for a walk, James answered casually, not alleviating Lauren's suspicions, "why are you all here?"

"We're going to the lake," Rat answered.

"There's supposed to be a meteor shower at midnight," Kerry continued.

"It's supposed to look really cool," Lauren added.

"So we made a picnic basket," Dana continued.

"And we were coming to see if you wanted to come," Bruce finished.

James looked from person to person as they spoke, impressed at how they managed to talk simultaneously, as if it were a shared through.

"I don't think that pea brain of his can handle that much thinking," Bethany tutted.

Lauren turned round and scowled at her best friend.

"If you're not gunna be civil to him just don't say anything," she warned.

After this there was an awkward silence where Lauren and Bethany were staring each other down.

"Yeah, sure," James said, in an attempt to break the silence and lighten the mood again, "I'll go."

He stepped into lift in between Lauren and Bethany. Bethany looked at him and once again and scowled at him, then she folded her arms and pouted.

***

At half past 11 the group had settled by the lake. They had eaten some of the food but the big interest was the hot steamy drinks that had been prepared in 4 different thermoses. The boys all sat together and the girls all sat together. In the boys group all eyes were on Jake as he recounted, for what must have been the millionth time, how he took out Hassam Bin Hassam on his 'big' mission. He was in the process of explaining how he took the knife from his hands and knocked him out with punch. Each time he told the story the events were more and more exaggerated, and this latest one was just another one of those exaggerations. Rat noticed that during some of the story Jake's mind seemed to wander, he carried on telling the story but he had less enthusiasm and his eyes seemed to wander too. Then he would carry on, but not before letting his lips curve into a smile for a moment. Rat looked over his shoulder and could only figure that he was looking at either the girls or something in the distance.

In the girls group Lauren, who had her back to the boys, was also retelling the events of her latest mission, the same mission as Jake. Her version was less exaggerated but it was still not the full truth. She made Jake sound lucky and that she was the more skilled as she managed to keep her calm. When she was telling her story she kept sweeping her glance across all her friends. She noticed that every so often Bethany's attention wasn't always on her and she seemed to be looking past her. Lauren knew the boys were behind her but she couldn't work out who her best friend was looking at. Lauren sighed inwardly to herself, and realised that Bethany had now begun to fall to the allure of boys that young teenagers have.

By noon the groups had shuffled together. Bethany, Lauren and Rat sat in a line together with Jake sitting just behind his sister and Lauren. He said it was because he wanted to stay close to his sister, to which Bethany replied "oh god I'm never gunna get rid of you". Just in front of these four Bruce and James were sat about a foot apart, each other their legs spread wide. Kerry was sat in between Bruce's legs and Dana was sat in between James's legs. Bruce and James had their arms wrapped around their respective girlfriends and were all looking at the sky.

"We should be able to see it whilst looking at Orion's belt," Lauren said, even though everyone already knew this anyway.

Silence ensued. At about 20 seconds to the hour Rat looked across at Lauren, but also noticed that Bethany wasn't looking at the sky, but towards the four older teens in front of them.

The meteor shower started exactly on time at midnight. It started with one solitary meteor. A single orange line graced the sky, but passed through at such speed that it was only in the sky for a split second.

"Is that…" James began to shout, in slight anger.

He didn't finish his sentence because as he was saying it, a massive flood of orange lines shot through. They swept through the sky, like hot lines scratching through the stars. They kept coming and coming. James heard a series of gasps, ooo's and ahh's. He figured it was coming from the girls but when he looked around he saw that Rat and Bruce were also making the noises. He smiled at how beautiful the meteor shower was, and how his friends all seemed happy. He saw his sister grinning brightly towards the sky. He moved his head to the left and saw Lauren's best friend. She was looking right at him. Her expression was unreadable for a second, before it turned into a scowl. She tutted and averted her eyes upwards. James shook his head as a fresh wave of anger swept through him, aimed at his sister's best friend. He looked back at the meteor shower and let the beauty alleviate his mood again.


	2. Chapter 2 The Fight

Chapter 2 – The Fight

James woke up the next morning. He crawled out of bed at 7:30 and wiped a tonne of sleep out of his eyes. He stumbled to his feet and tried to get his balance by holding out his arms. He found his balance and smiled to himself. He stood naked in his room and looked around on his floor for something to put on.

"Wakey, wakey, big bro," Lauren announced her arrival, opening the door.

James froze. Lauren and her best friend, Bethany, strode into the room and saw James in all his glory. There was a second's pause before anyone could react to the situation, but it seemed to last forever. Lauren's face burned bright red and she stifled a laugh as she turned round to avoid looking at it. Bethany, who was more shocked, stared at his manhood and couldn't seem to look away. James's face turned red as he brought his hands in front of him to cover the view. Bethany turned round, beaming.

"Don't you know how to bloody knock?" James shouted.

"Sorry, James, I thought you'd still be in bed," Lauren said, through a laugh.

Lauren looked at her best friend. Bethany too was trying not to laugh.

"Why is that little cow here?" James shouted.

Bethany turned round, she would say later that she completely forget James was naked because when he called her a cow she got really annoyed.

"I am not a cow you annoying git, we came because Zara told us about a mission that's in the planning stages, and it'll need us three and Jake," Bethany shouted back.

James was a little surprised by the outburst and was unsure what to do now that his sisters best friend was stood across from him staring him down whilst he was only covered by his hands. Bethany's breathing was deep and hard, but she slowly realised that she was still glowering at him. She stamped her foot and turned to storm out of the room. James stood there, completely gob-smacked. Lauren slowly turned round.

"Put some clothes on," she huffed.

James reached over and grabbed some boxers. He put them on quickly.

"What's this mission then?" James asked.

"We're not really sure yet, the briefing is in a week's time, and John is the mission controller," Lauren explained.

"Ok, sounds good," James answered.

"Now," Lauren said with a louder voice, "I've got to go do some damage control with Beth."

James gave a smile and turned red again. He shook his head as his sister stood up and walked out of the room.

***

There was a knock on Dana's door. She opened it up and stared at the man on the other side. Michael looked down at her. She smiled up at him.

"You ready to study?" He asked, holding his books out for show.

"You bet," Dana said, though she was only wearing a large shirt and underwear.

Michael walked into the room and sat down on a chair at the desk. Dana sat on her bed across the room from him.

"You might wanna get dressed," Michael said.

Dana laughed. She looked around her room for something to wear.

She stood up and walked into the centre of the room. She bent down to pick up a pair of trousers. Michael glanced over at her and realised that he could see all the way down her shirt. He felt a sensation in his trousers as they started to bunch up. Dana realised what had happened and put her hand across the neck of her shirt.

"Sorry," she said, smiling but going red.

Michael coughed, clearly showing his discomfort, though he couldn't tear his eyes away from her chest.

"Don't worry about it," he said, whilst fidgeting on his chair.

There was a knock on the door. Both Dana and Michael's eyes shot to the door.

"Who is it?" Dana shouted.

"James," the door said.

"Oh shit," Dana whispered.

Michael's face turned to one of dread.

"Just a second," Dana shouted.

They both heard James laugh before the door handle turned. James stepped into the room. He looked round and saw Dana in just a shirt and underwear, and then he saw Michael with a raging erection nearly bursting out of his trousers. James didn't know what to do. This was the second time in just a few hours that he was speechless and didn't know what to do. He looked from Dana to Michael.

"Mate, this isn't what it looks like," Michael said. Big mistake.

"I'd say things are pretty fucking clear from where I'm stood," James shouted out.

"Wait, James," Dana tried to say.

James couldn't say anything; he had just walked in what he thought was his girlfriend cheating on him. His anger levels shot up and he couldn't control his anger. Dana walked towards him. James bunched his fists.

"James, please, calm down," Dana said.

James screamed. He swung his fist around. It connected with Dana on her cheek. She toppled backwards and onto the floor. Michael shot up in a second. He put his hands on James's shoulders. James was lashing out, swinging his fists around as wildly as possible. Michael threw James's shoulders back and he slammed into the corridor wall outside.

"Calm down you prick," Michael shouted.

He ran to Dana. James ran off down the corridor, realising what he'd done. Dana was unconscious, so Michael picked her up and ran her down to the medical centre.

***

"What the bloody hell did you think you were playing, James Adams," Zara shouted at him.

James had never seen her as annoyed as she was now. He was close to tears the whole time she was shouting at him. He knew he shouldn't have hit Dana but he lost control and he caught her cheating on him.

"This is completely unacceptable. Dana Smith now had a broken cheek bone and is still unconscious in the medical centre." Zara continued.

"I'm sorry Mrs Asker, but I just walked in on them about to have sex, its kinda hard not to lose control," James tried to make an excuse for himself.

"No, actually as a matter of fact they weren't. Michael has been told to give Dana private tutoring for Biology. That is why he was there," Zara explained.

"She was wearing only a shirt, what do you expect me to think?" James shouted. "And his penis pretty bloody large."

"Don't you take that tone with me young man, or else you days here are gunna be very limited," Zara threatened, standing up to make herself seem bigger.

James realised he had overstepped the line and retreated back inside himself slightly to calm down.

"Sorry, Mrs Asker, I just jumped to conclusions," James apologised.

Zara sighed, before sitting down.

"I'm reassigning you to anger management counselling and you are banned from missions for the next two months. You are also to run 50 punishment laps over the next week." Zara explained.

"Oh come on, that's a bit harsh isn't it?" James asked.

"No it is not. I do not care for men who hit women, and I certainly don't think I should let you off light for lashing out without even realising what was going on. You have got to control your anger James, or else your CHERUB career could end sooner than you think." Zara explained. "Now get out of my sight before I double your laps."

James nodded his head solemnly and slowly walked out of the room. He stood in the corridor and leaned against the wall. He burst into tears and fell to the floor.

Meanwhile in the Medical Unit, Dana was just beginning to wake up. She opened her eyes and felt her face burn with pain. She let out a shout of pain. The door burst open and a nurse ran in. She came to Dana's side.

"Don't move, you're cheek bone is broken and you've been out for a day," the nurse said tentatively.

Dana tried to sit up. The nurse gently put her hands on Dana's shoulders and softly pushed her back down onto the bed.

"I said don't move, if you move too much your cheek will set in the wrong place," the nurse explained.

"What happened?" Dana asked.

The nurse sighed. Dana knew it wouldn't be good news, but she just couldn't remember what had happened, all she could remember was James walked in on her and Michael.

"James punched you in the face. I'm not sure why or what exactly happened, all I know is that he hit you," the nurse explained.

"Oh," Dana said, her face turning sad.

The nurse gently started to stroke Dana's hair.

"Don't worry sweetheart, if you want me to I'll go tell the Chairwoman right now and we can get him kicked out of Campus, or we can make sure he doesn't go near you again," the nurse suggested.

"No, he didn't mean to hit me, he was just annoyed," Dana said sadly.

The nurse didn't know what to say. She stood there and there was a moment of awkward silence.

"Can you send for him?" Dana asked, looking at her fiddling hands.

The nurse looked uneasy.

"Don't worry," Dana said, seeing the nurse's discomfort, "he won't hurt me again."

"Only if you're sure," the nurse replied.

"I'm sure," Dana said with finality.

The nurse nodded and walked out of the room. She walked down a small corridor to a reception desk. She picked up the phone and dialled the number for Meryl Spencer's office. After a brief conversation Meryl sent for James.

***

"Listen to me Mr Adams," the nurse said, "Dana has told me that what happened was a misunderstanding, but in my books you are still a woman beater, and I am going to have a security guard posted outside the door whilst you're in there."

James stood still and his face was turned down. Ever since he'd lost control his friends who were women had refused to talk to him. Bruce wasn't allowed to talk to him because he was going out with Kerry. Lauren still spoke to him, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable around him.

"I understand," James replied quietly.

The nurse led the way down the corridor and James saw the rather bulky security guard already outside the door. The nurse stood by the door whilst James went inside.

He saw Dana in the hospital bed. She turned her head to face him. He saw now that she looked more beautiful than ever, and suddenly tears began to roll down his cheeks. Dana just looked at him.

"James," Dana said sternly.

"Hi," James said through tears.

There was a moment's awkward silence.

"Dana, I am so sorry about what I did, I jumped to conclusions and I lost it," James blurted out, "I didn't mean to hit you. I'm so sorry."

Dana nodded her head slightly.

"Ok, I accept your apology, but I hope you realise that I can't go out with you anymore," Dana explained.

James nodded and wiped a tear out of his eye.

"It's the least I deserve," James said.

"You know that I wasn't cheating, right?" Dana asked.

"Yeah I know, wished I'd known sooner, but I know," James answered.

"Then at the risk of you losing it again I want you to know, I wanted to cheat on you, and I would have if you hadn't walked in," Dana said sadly.  
James froze.


	3. Chapter 3 The Unlikely Conversation

**Author Note**

I do not own CHERUB, its characters, places or things in it.

Chapter 3 – The Unlikely Conversation

"Say something," Dana said tentatively.

"I..." James attempted to say.

Tears began to roll down Dana's cheek. James didn't know whether to scream or cry.

"Come on James, just say something," Dana said through the tears.

James turned around and walked out. He had no expression, not anger or sadness, he just looked empty. Dana was scared; she'd never seen him like that before.

James walked up the corridor. The security guard was a bit shocked by his sudden appearance and looked through the window into the room. When he saw that Dana was ok he decided to go and tell the nurse what had just transpired. The nurse came into the room and sat on Dana's bed.

"What did you say to him, dear?" The nurse asked.

"I told him the truth, that I wanted to cheat on him and that I wanted to break up with him," Dana explained, leaning into the nurse's shoulder.

The nurse put her arm around Dana's back and rubbed gently, but she felt a sense of disgust at the girl in her arms.

James got back to his room and sat on his bed. He didn't move for three hours. Down in the dining hall all of James' friends had gathered around a table.

"Where's James?" Bruce asked.

Kerry nudged him in the ribs.

"I told you not to talk about that arse," Kerry replied.

"Kerry, he's still my mate, and I think it's weird how he isn't here, I mean its James, he always eats," Bruce explained.

"That git is a woman beating shit head and I'll be glad if I never see his fat arse again," Kerry yelled at Bruce.

Bruce's face fell down and no one else wanted to speak. Kerry jabbed her food and thrust it into her mouth, and then chewed like there was no tomorrow.

"Where's my bro?" Lauren asked as she sat down.

Bruce, Gabrielle, and Rat stared at her as if she'd just simultaneously insulted the prime minister to his face and was warning her to run. Kerry threw down her fork and huffed.

"I'm outta here," Kerry said, whilst turning around and starting to walk away.

Lauren looked at her in confusion.

"What's wrong with her?" Lauren asked, a little too loudly.

Kerry stopped and Lauren realised her mistake.

"I'll tell you what's wrong," Kerry bellowed, "your prick of a brother hit Dana in the face without reason. I knew he was an arrogant arse and he can be an idiot but I didn't know he was a woman beating twat. He is scum and, if you ask me, he is the worst thing on the planet."

The anger inside Lauren was building up and she snapped at the last thing Kerry said.

"Oh my god will you listen to yourself!" Lauren shouted back, "he has never hit a woman before Dana and he did think that she was cheating on him, you know he has anger problems and he really loved her, so he was a bit pissed off when he lost control now stop talking about my brother like he's some animal because he's not!"

Bruce, Gabrielle and Rat eased their chair backwards.  
"How can you justify what he did and defend him, Lauren?" Kerry shouted. "He's scum and he deserves to die for all I care!"

Lauren couldn't believe what Kerry had just said. A tear began to form in her eye. Kerry realised that she had said too much.

"Kerry," Zara's voice called over, "my office, now."

No one had realised Zara had come in, or that she was listening. She turned around and walked towards her office without saying another word and without letting Kerry grovel. Kerry knew she was in deep trouble now.

"Kerry," Zara said, "I know you believe that what James did was wrong..."

"It was wrong, he hit a woman," Kerry interjected.

"Will you let me finish!" Zara said through a raised voice.

Kerry opened her mouth to speak but realised it was better not to.

"Now, I know you believe that what James did was wrong, and it was, but you don't know the full story," Zara explained.

"What is the full story?" Kerry asked, taking advantage of the pause in Zara's speaking.

"Michael was supposed to tutor Dana, and when he went to her room she was wearing nothing but underwear and a shirt. I have now been informed from the nursing staff at the hospital wing that Dana did in fact intend to cheat on James with Michael. He walked in before she was able to and when he reacted it was more just than any of us realised. It was wrong, and he is still going to be punished, but I need you to understand that she was also in the wrong and he did just lose control. As you well know, James has never hit a woman before and according to all our sources he was brought up not to," Zara explained.

Kerry was stunned into silence. She didn't realise that it was possible for Dana to be in the wrong as well, she had jumped to conclusions when she heard about James hitting her.

"Now to you, I have broken quite a few guidelines by telling you all this," Zara explained, "but I am extremely disappointed in your."

Kerry hated that word. She was fine if a teacher or a member of staff was angry or annoyed, but she hated disappointing them, it made her feel extremely bad.

"I know that people on CHERUB campus don't get along and there have probably been such things said in private, but never ONCE have I heard someone publicly shout that they think someone deserves to die," Zara said, then raised a finger, "not only saying they think someone deserves to die but saying it to that person's sister whose brother is the only family she has left, as you well know."

Kerry let a tear roll down her cheek.

"I want you to make a written apology to both Lauren and James, and you are on ditch digging duty for the next month, or until you are sent on a mission.

"Yes, chair woman," Kerry said solemnly.

"Now, get out of here," Zara said firmly.

James sat up in his bed. He'd laid down about 20 minutes ago to try and sleep but it just didn't work. He realised he'd been stuck inside his room for nearly 4 hours now, and he decided to get out of the room. He went to the door and turned the knob. He stepped into the corridor. He was going to head for the lift but there were two Grey Shirts who were messing about in the corridor and he couldn't be bothered with the noise. He turned towards the fire escape and went through. The fire escape was hardly used and the only lighting was from the windows. James liked the darkness that was in there, compared to the corridor. He sat half-way down a flight of stairs and sat down. He didn't want to go for the walk now. Suddenly a wave of emotion came over him and he put his head in his hands and began to cry.

"Oh god, of all the places you had to be it had to be here," Bethany's voice sounded.

James lifted his head and turned it round. He looked his sister's best friend in the eye, which was scowling back at him. Then something happened that James didn't expect. Bethany's expression softened.

"Are you alright?" Bethany asked, sounding sincerely concerned for what seemed like the first time ever in James's head.

"Do I bloody look alright?" James snapped back.

Then another unexpected thing happened. Bethany dropped her head to the floor.

"Sorry," she whispered.

James was shocked. He had never heard her say that word and mean it. He realised he shouldn't have snapped.

"Me too, I didn't mean to snap," James said, wiping his eyes.

Bethany looked up and gave him a slight smile. In all the times that he'd seen her he'd never seen her smile like that, and he realised that without a permanent scowl plastered on her face, her smile seemed quite nice.

"So, what's wrong?" Bethany dared to ask.

"Nothing," James answered, not wanting to tell his enemy his secrets.

Bethany took a few steps towards him.

"Come on, I know you're an arse and we're not exactly the best of friends but I can't just leave a guy crying to be on his own," Bethany explained.

James didn't know what to say. He went over the last 20 seconds in his head, working out if Bethany was really being serious.

"I know you don't trust me, and you'll probably laugh at me for saying this but, I can be alright and I will listen if you want me to," Bethany said.

She nodded her head slightly and turned to walk away.

"Dana was going to cheat on me," James blurted out.

Bethany stopped. James couldn't believe what he'd just done, but he heard something in Bethany's voice that just made him trust her. She turned around and began to walk towards him.

"How do you know?" Bethany asked, sitting down about 3 foot away from James.

"She told me," James answered.

"I'm sorry, I know you liked her," Bethany said, but realised she might have said too much.

"I thought you hated me, and never paid attention to me," James replied, in confusion.

"I say I hate you but I don't really, you've never actually done anything bad to me, you just didn't make a good first impression," Bethany explained.

There was an awkward silence. Neither one knew what to say.

"I really liked her, I thought we would last, and I thought she was happy," James said, changing the subject back to the reasons behind him crying.

"Some girls can be real bitches," Bethany said seriously.

"Yeah, you're a prime example," James said, with a laugh.

Bethany pretended to be insulted and slapped him on the arm, but she had a smile on her face.

"Sorry," James laughed.

"It's ok, I can be sometimes, you just gotta keep on my good side," Bethany said, with a raise of her eyebrows.

James laughed. It felt strange being made to laugh by a girl who, until a few minutes ago, would say she hated him. He considered her, and how strange this Bethany, who was sitting across from him, was.

"So are you going to be alright?" Bethany asked, losing the laugh.

"Yeah I'll live," James said softly.

"Good," Bethany replied, "now I can go back to hating you."

James looked at her in seriousness, but when he saw her grin he just burst out laughing.

"Don't worry, the secret that you care about me will stay safe," James said.

"Ok, and if you tell anyone, I'll just tell everyone that I found you crying on the stairs alone," Bethany said smiling.

"Ok then, it's a deal," James said, holding out his hand to shake on it.

Bethany hesitated. Then she reached out her hand and shook it. A moment passed which they were holding hands then they both let go. Bethany smiled and nodded then walked off.

"Oh, and thanks," James shouted after her.

"You're welcome," Bethany shouted back.

James looked out of the window at the sky, still smiling to himself that he got cheered up by his sister's best friend.

"Oh no..."


	4. Chapter 4 Paintballing

Chapter 4 – Paintballing

There are 15 pairs of CHERUBs allowed on the paintballing range. Each CHERUB is issued with protective gear, which includes a helmet and body armour, but the paintballs still sting like mad when they hit you. There is a minimum distance of 2 meters and if you're caught shooting someone within that range then you are in serious trouble. Once a person has been shot three times then they are dead, and must put their hands in the air to signify they are dead. If a dead person shoots someone then they are in serious trouble, much the same as if you shoot a dead person you're also in serious trouble. There is a network of security cameras in the paintball range to make sure that everyone plays by the rules, no matter how few there might be, and that everyone plays fair, or something that resembles fair. The training instructors run the paintball range, and when he is not doing other training mission, Mr Pike is usually the one they have to answer to.

"What you reckon?" James asked.

"Yeah, sure," Lauren answered.

"This should be fun," Bruce said with a massive grin. "Don't go too hard on me when I kill you Kerry."

Kerry shot him daggers as she fixed her helmet on.

"You're gunna be the dead one, Bruce," Kerry said snootily, "I think you'll find."

She then broke into a grin at the grim expression on Bruce's face.

"Ok then, boys versus girls it is," James said loudly.

James, Bruce, Rat, Kerry, Gabrielle, Lauren, Bethany, Jake, Connor and Callum had booked the paintballing range so they could unwind. It was the time of year when one of the vacations was up for grabs, but they all decided not to and that they could have a lot of fun on campus for a change.

"Wait, its 6 versus 4, we need one of you guys," Bethany said.

She looked along the boys, who were all stood in a line, but held her gaze for a moment more on James.

"Who do we want?" Lauren asked.

"I think we should split up the twinnies," Gabrielle said smirking.

Connor and Callum looked at each other with grim expressions.

"Yeah, it'll be good for these two to let rip at each other with propelled paint," Rat joined in.

"Ok..." Callum said.

"But we..." Connor continued.

"Get to..."

"Be on the same..."

"Team next time..."

"Argh!" Rat shouted, "I hate when you two do that."

Everyone burst out laughing, except the twins who didn't realise they were twinspeaking.

"We'll take Connor, you can have Callum," James said through the laughing.

"Ok guys, you all know the rules so I'm not gunna go into details. Just remember your distances and don't shoot or be shot by dead people. Each of you have two envelopes that you need to post, the one with the most wins. Wait for my whistle and have fun out there," Mr Pike said as he opened the gate.

The CHERUB's rushed out. They have exactly 2 minutes to find cover, then Mr Pike blow his whistle and all hell would break loose. The girls+Callum group headed for a more built up area of buildings. The boys group heading into the trees. In the 2 minutes they managed to get as far away from each other as possible. Mr Pike blew his whistle.

James, Rat and Bruce ran towards the centre of the compound. They approached the edge of the buildings and crouched down next to an alley. Bruce and Rat were on one side and James was on the other. James peered around the corner and saw the alley was clear. He signalled the other two to proceed upwards. They were passing between a shop, though they only realised this at the other end, and a house. When they were half way up they saw a garden gate, except it was swinging on its hinges. James stopped the other two and they realised what was wrong. He slowly opened the gate and looked in. He held it open and signalled for the other two to watch his back. He crept inside the gate whilst the other two kept guard outside. James crept up to the house and looked in through a window. Inside there was a black canvas back on a table, but it had been opened.

"They couldn't have got here first," James whispered to himself.

He crept back to the garden gate and went back into the alley.

"Keep an eye out, I think they're close," James whispered.

The other two nodded in unison.

Connor and Jake had volunteered to do a sweep of the perimeter. Connor was heading north and Jake was heading south. Connor was keeping to the trees. Trying to keep as much stealth as one can in a forest whilst wearing heavy gear, he crept along, looking in all directions for any sign of trouble. He heard footsteps about five metres away from his position. He crept down behind a log and aimed his gun towards the footsteps. Out of the bushes came Gabrielle. Connor fired three shots in her direction. The first shot hit her on the chest, and she recoiled back out of shock. The other two shots fired off wildly into the distance. Gabrielle realised someone was there now and opened fire at the bushes. Connor ducked down behind the log, which was lucky because two paintballs shot over it where his head would have been. When the firing stopped Connor put his gun on top of the log and fired randomly over the top. He heard Gabrielle scream so he assumed he'd got her again. Gabrielle was now making her way around the log. She made sure she was at least two meters away from it. She saw Connor hiding behind the log, but she was behind a bush so he couldn't see her. She pointed the gun through the bushes and shot at him three times. The first two shots plastered him across the chest with paint but the third shot missed. Connor turned and fired his own volley of paint towards the bushes. Gabrielle got hit again, so she decided to count her losses and run. The shot Connor thought had got her the second time didn't get her and Gabrielle screamed to lull him into a false sense of security. As he heard Gabrielle run away, Connor ran in another direction to get away. He only had one hit left and he needed to find the letterboxes.

Lauren saw one of them. She had quite a clear shot, but didn't want to risk it yet. Then she saw the guy's build and height. It was her brother, James. Lauren smiled to herself and took aim. She pulled the trigger to get a shot at him, but as soon as she did she saw Bruce come up behind him. The shot narrowly missed James's head. When he saw it go past he realised he was under fire.

"We're under fire!" James shouted to his team mates.

James aimed in the general direction of the shot that came at him and fired. He sent a volley of paint towards Lauren. She realised she was out numbered but decided to fight anyway. She ran into a street and fired whilst running, trying to get into a more secure position. A paint ball hit Rat in the chest and knocked him backwards. James jumped down into the street. Bruce stood his ground and fired back at Lauren, hitting her once in the shoulder. When Lauren reached her secure spot she put her hand to her shoulder in an attempt to stop the pain. James, Bruce and Rat started to move in. Lauren looked round the corner. A paintball hit the wall right next to her. She decided to run down the alley she was in and try to get behind them.

James, Bruce and Rat got to where they thought Lauren was hiding and saw that she was already half way down the alley. Rat pulled his gun up and took aim. He was by far the best marksman, as he lived his life before CHERUB with a slingshot and was a master at that. He fired a single shot that hit Lauren in the leg, causing her to fall down. James and Bruce cheered at him. They were about to run down the alley after Lauren but a paintball hit James in the back. He turned round immediately to see Kerry and Callum walking towards them with their guns held high. James pulled his gun up and shot. He hit both of them once in the chest. James, Bruce and Rat ran into the secure spot Lauren had occupied a moment before.

"There's two of them and three of us," James pointed out.

Rat nodded at him. He had been hit once and didn't mind getting another hit. He ran out from behind the wall, without anyone telling him to or wanting him to. The other two called after him but it was too late. Rat got a shot at Callum, whilst running between flying paint that was coming at him. He got hit by Kerry. Rat pulled his trigger and let rip. He hit Callum again and hit Kerry in the shoulder, but Kerry got another shot at him.

"Damn it, he got me, I'm out," Callum said throwing his hands up in the air to surrender, as Rat did the same.

James contemplated what to do, it was two against one now but he knew that Kerry was a formidable foe.

"You go after Lauren, I'll try to get Kerry, I've got three lives left and she only has one I think," Bruce said.

James nodded at him.

"Good luck, mate," He replied.

James ran off in the direction of Lauren.

Bruce prepared himself. Kerry was getting closer and closer. Bruce pulled his gun up and jumped out of the alley he was in. He pulled his trigger and seven paintballs shot out. Kerry, seeing the onslaught of paintballs, turned and ducked down. One stray paintball hit her straight on the arse.

"OW!!" Kerry screamed, "Bruce you bloody moron, you hit me on my bloody arse, that's it as soon as we're outta here you're gunna pay for this!!"

"Sorry, what was that dear?" Bruce said sarcastically, "I couldn't here you, I was too busy spanking your arse to timbucktoo."

Bruce stared at his girlfriend. He suddenly realised what he'd just said and who he'd said it to. Kerry started walking towards him. Bruce turned and ran as fast he could.

"I'm gunna kill you Bruce Norris!!" Kerry screamed running after him.

James was at near the end of the alley and was still running. He suddenly heard a noise from behind him. He turned around to see Bruce shoot past him at almost double his speed.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!" Bruce was screaming.

About a metre behind Bruce was Kerry. James stopped at and watched the two. He burst out laughing as a champion martial artist ran away from Kerry. He shook his head and went after where he thought Lauren was, though he was too amused to run fast.

By now Lauren was a fair way away and was entering the trees. She went into a stealthy mode and started creeping through the trees. She reached a small embankment and climbed to the top. When she saw no one from her elevated position she crouched down to see if anyone would come into her sight, but also to rest her leg and her shoulder. What she didn't know was Connor had made it all the way round the perimeter and was now creeping along next to where Lauren was. He saw her and immediately stopped. When she didn't move he realised that she hadn't heard him or seen him. He crept along, making sure he had a clear shot. He raised his gun to eye level and took aim. Just as he was about to pull the trigger a paintball hit him in the head, knocking him back. The gun rose into the air and Connor pulled the trigger out of shock. Paintballs began to shoot into the air and hit the canopy of leaves above them. Lauren looked up and saw Connor randomly shooting. She heard a rustle of leaves to her left and realised it must be the girl who saved her. She ran off into the trees after them.

About 20 metres away Lauren grabbed the back of the smaller person running away. She turned them round.

"Why did you..." She began as she was turning the person around.

The person who it was wasn't who Lauren expected it to be.

"Why did you just save me?" Lauren asked.

The person thought for a moment.

"I thought it was Callum, I didn't see you," Jake said.

"That's rubbish, you had a clear shot at me from where you were," Lauren said.

Jakes shuffled on his feet, but he realised he'd have to tell Lauren the truth.

Mr Pike blew his whistle. The CHERUB's stopped immediately and begun walking to the south-most end of the compound to hand in their weaponry and equipment. When they got there Jake looked half upset but half amazed. Rat asked him what was wrong but he just said it was nothing. Bruce looked like he'd soiled himself several times over and Kerry was giving him daggers the whole time. Lauren looked pensive but realised something and her attention shot back.

"Where were you, Bethany?" Lauren asked.

I was hid at the north of the compound. I saw Connor and tried to follow him but he was going too fast, so I went into the centre of the place," Bethany explained.

"Sorry you missed out on all the action," James said to her.

"You won't be sorry in a minute," Bethany replied, with an evil smile.

Everyone was confused by this statement. Mr Pike walked in.

"Well, I gotta say," He began, "That was the WORST attempt to post letters I've ever seen."

Everyone realised they'd completely forgotten about the letters.

"So was it a draw?" Kerry asked.

"No, actually Miss Chang, you team won," Mr Pike replied, smiling slightly.

Everyone was confused again.

"Young Miss Parker here was in fact the only person in the game to post her letters, the rest of you didn't even get one," Mr Pike explained.

All eyes were on Bethany.

"Told you, you wouldn't be sorry," Bethany said grinning.

All the girls, and Callum, started cheering. Bruce, Rat, Jake and Connor's faces all turned grim. James couldn't help but smile at how Bethany had single handedly won the game.


	5. Chapter 5 The Lake

Chapter 5 – The Lake

"Sit down, James," Zara said to James, indicating the chair she wanted him to sit in.

James sat down.

"What is this about, Chairwoman?" James asked.

He knew it was safe to do this because nothing about Zara's tone of voice, body language or speaking speed indicated that she was annoyed. He was, however nervous, but was glad that she smiled at him after he asked this question.

"I want to speak to you about your punishment," Zara answered.

James was unsure what to say. Normally when a punishment is given that is the end of it and you don't hear anything else until at least it has been completed.

"Several members of staff and I have been reviewing what happened between you and Dana and we would like to revise the punishment that is set for you. As I believe you are nearly half finished with your punishment laps and you have attended the several bi-weekly anger management sessions that you have been told to attend. What happened between you and Dana was a very bad affair, and I feel that we all jumped to conclusions. I accused you of being a woman beater, but I was wrong, and I wish to formally apologise," Zara explained with an apology.

James was a bit shaken by what she had just said. He had no idea that this whole matter was still under investigation.

"After talking with both Dana and Michael we think we have a fuller picture of what actually transpired. This would have happened sooner but unfortunately Dana was in the hospital and the nurse said she did not want anyone to upset her by asking her a lot of questions. The nurse also told us of your visit to Dana, at her request. She told us what Dana said to you, and I must say I glad you managed to stay under control. Due to this fact, the staff involved in handling this matter have all agreed that your counselling sessions will be reduced to a weekly visit, rather than bi-weekly. As you also know there is a mission coming up and it would be preferred if you would be able to go. I shan't say much about the mission only that we are sending one pair of agents up at one time, then the other pair up at a later date. If you both accept you and Lauren will be the pair sent up at the second date. This will give you time to finish your punishment laps and will allow you some more counselling sessions. I must stress though, you are not getting off easy. If you fail to turn up at any of your anger management sessions you will not be allowed on this mission, no excuses." Zara continued after a brief pause.

James was speechless. He was close to tears because he had gone through hell over the past 2 weeks, with everyone thinking he was a woman beater and such.

"Lauren, Bethany and Jake have all accepted the mission already, now we are just waiting for you," Zara said, "do you want this mission?"

James couldn't speak, not because he was unsure but because he was shocked at everything that had just happened.

"James?" Zara asked, with a half-smile playing upon her lips.

"Yes, yes I want it," James blurted out and immediately started grinning afterwards.

"Good, I'll tell John straight away," Zara said, "I also feel obligated to ask, I know you and Bethany aren't exactly on the best of terms with each other, so will it be a problem on the mission?"

"Oh I don't think it will be," James said, still smiling, "I can put up with her for the sake of a mission."

Zara smiled suspiciously.

"Well ok, you're dismissed."

***

It was 8 o'clock at night. Lauren had gone for a walk on her own down by the lake. She liked to take walks at night, especially when the stars were out, thought this time she wasn't in luck in that department. She'd walk down to the lake, then to the trees and back, but this time she felt compelled to sit by the lake and watch the waves ripple against the bank and listen to the sounds and silence of nature. Jake had a good view of the lake from his room. He looked out of the window and saw Lauren's blonde hair shimmering off the lights on the grounds. He knew it was her immediately. It had only been a few days since their encounter at the paintball grounds but he really wanted to talk to her about what he'd said. He took a moment to decide then grabbed his coat and boots and jogged out of his room.

Jake walked towards the lake, his stomach churning as he approached Lauren. She heard his boots walking across the grass and turned her head to greet him.

"Hey, Jake," Lauren called to him.

"Hi," Jake said, nervously.

"You don't have to be nervous, you know," Lauren said, sensing the nerves in his voice, "come and sit down."

Lauren patted the ground next to her. Jake slowly walked up to where she was patting and sat down quickly. He looked at Lauren for a few seconds then followed her gaze out across the lake.

"It's beautiful out here at night," Lauren said absently.

"Yeah it is, I never realised until now, I've only seen it up close in the day," Jake replied.

There was a moment's pause. Jake wanted to talk but he didn't know how. Lauren was just content to sit here with him and watch the lake. She shuddered as the cold began to wear her down.

"You should have brought a coat," Jake said as he took his off.

He wrapped his coat around Lauren's shoulders. She looked at him, half out of affection and half out of confusion.

"It's what they do in the films," Jake said with a guilty smile.

Lauren laughed at him, but pulled the coat further round her.

"Won't you get cold?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm tough as old boots me," Jake said, banging his chest.

Lauren laughed again. Then there was silence. Jake was still working out what exactly he wanted to say to Lauren but he couldn't get the words right. Lauren saw his expression out of the corner of her eye and realised he was struggling to say something.

"How long have you known?" Lauren asked at last.

"Ever since you laughed at me for crying," Jake confessed.

"That's an odd time to realise you like someone," Lauren said in puzzlement.

Jake looked at the floor. He knew he'd have to explain he was just unsure how to do so. He decided to tell her exactly how he realised...

_Jake was laid on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling but he couldn't see properly because his eyes were flooded with tears. He was upset because he'd messed up but also because Lauren had laughed at him. He had been laid for nearly an hour, with Mac knocking on the door several times to see if he was ok. He was annoyed that Lauren hadn't even had the decency to apologise or ask if he was ok. He rolled onto his side and slammed his fist into a bedside cupboard._

"_Why does she always have to be so _perfect_?" Jake asked himself in a sarcastic tone._

"_Because she is perfect," Jake's head said to him._

_He shook his head to try and get this thought out of his mind._

"_She isn't perfect, she's annoying, and stubborn and full of herself," Jake said to himself, trying to reassure himself that he hated Lauren._

"_But you love that about her," Jake's head said._

"_Stop saying that, I hate that about her and I hate her," Jake said angrily._

"_You've been thinking about her non-stop for the past hour, and before that she comes into your mind a lot, you're upset she hasn't come to see if you're ok and even more upset that she laughed at you," Jake's head explained._

_Jake didn't reply. He knew it was true, but he didn't want it to be. He slammed his fist into the cupboard one more time. Then he pictured Lauren's face, her smile, her scowl, her frown, her laugh. He realised that every emotion he could picture her having made him feel a little better inside..._

Lauren sat in silence, taking in the story Jake had just told her. Jake wanted her to say something, just something so that he knew what she was thinking. He began to panic that she wasn't speaking.

"You think I'm perfect?" Lauren asked slowly.

"Well, I don't know about perfect but..." Jake said, going bright red.

"But what?" Lauren asked.

"Doesn't matter," Jake said, too embarrassed to say anything else.

"And you stopped me getting shot in paintballing," Lauren said, recounting the facts.

"Yeah, I would normally have just let you but when I saw Connor taking aim I just felt angry that you were about to be shot," Jake explained.

Lauren thought for a few more seconds. She knew that he liked her from the paintball range, but she felt a little different about it now that she knew that story.

"I think I'm gunna go," Jake said sadly.

Lauren didn't hear him at first. As Jake stood to leave she turned to him.

"Don't you need your coat?" Lauren asked.

Jake stopped. He turned around to her. She saw there were tears in his eyes.

"Nah, I get a feeling you'll be out here for a while longer, you need it more than I do, just give me it back tomorrow," Jake answered.

"Ok, thanks, Jake," Lauren said to him, smiling a little.

She turned back to the lake as Jake turned back to the main building. A few second past and then Lauren looked back at Jake. She watched him walking away from her.

"What am I supposed to do now?" She asked herself.

***

James was walking back to his room with a skip in his step. He hadn't seen his friends in the 2 hours since he got out of Zara's office but that was only to be expected at this time of night. He decided he wanted to walk to get to his room more so he went up the fire escape. He got three flights of stairs up when he heard someone coming down. He froze, CHERUBs aren't supposed to be on the fire escape, but only a few staff cared. James was afraid it was one of those staff. The person who turned the corner at the top wasn't in fact a staff member but it was in fact Bethany. She stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at James.

"Hi," she said to him.

"Hi," James replied.

There was a moment's pause as the two considered each other.

"Where you going?" James asked.

"Lauren just texted me saying she needed to talk to me at the lake, going there to meet her," Bethany answered, "you?"

"Just going to my room, maybe stop by Bruce's room as well," James said.

"Cool," Bethany said.

They both started walking towards each other. They stood side by side.

"Oh yeah, I'm allowed on that mission so I'll be up there with you, Jake and Lauren when it all starts off," James explained.

"That's wonderful," Bethany said, smiling.

Before she knew what was happening she had hugged him, and he was hugging her back. James recoiled after a few seconds.

"Why did you just hug me?" James asked.

Bethany turned bright red.

"I don't know," Bethany said, "just happy for you, it's a girl thing."

James laughed.

"Alright then," he replied to her.

Bethany gave a half-hearted laugh and looked at the floor.

"Right then, I've gotta go meet Lauren," she said, "I'll cya later."

"Yeah, what fun that'll be," James said sarcastically.

Bethany gave him a light slap on the arm. James laughed.

"Bye," he said, beginning to walk up the stairs.

Bethany watched him walk upwards and then began to walk down towards the lake.

***

Bethany got to the lake a few minutes later. She saw Lauren sat by the side of it looking out into space. She came up and sat beside her.

"Hey," Bethany said.

"Hi," Lauren replied.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Bethany asked.

"It's about a guy," Lauren started.

"Ok, what about this guy?" Bethany asked. "And who is he?"

"He really likes me, but I'm not sure how I feel about him. Before tonight I would say without a doubt that I don't like him but I realised tonight that he is kinda sweet and he's a decent guy," Lauren explained.

"Do you think you two would be good together?" Bethany asked. "And who is he?"

"I don't know. It would be weird, but I think if we really tried and no one bugged us about it, I suppose it could go somewhere," Lauren admitted.

"Then why don't you tell him this?" Bethany asked. "And who is he?"

"It would be too weird," Lauren said, pulling Jake's coat tighter around her.

"Isn't that Jakes coat?" Bethany asked in confusion. "And who is this..."

It clicked in Bethany's head. Lauren had Jake's coat which must have meant he was here and he gave it to her. Lauren said that she realised tonight that this guy is kinda sweet. Lauren hadn't told her the name of this guy. Bethany stood up and took a step back.

"Jake??" She asked, but nearly shouted.

"Shh, don't speak so loud," Lauren pleaded.

"My brother?" Bethany whispered. "He hates you."

"No, he doesn't," Lauren replied.

"You and my brother?" Bethany asked.  
"Nothing has happened yet," Lauren said as an excuse.

"YET?" Bethany squealed.

"Bethany, calm down, sit down," Lauren said.

Bethany took a few deep breaths. She sat down next to her best friend.

"He really likes me," Lauren said quietly and firmly. "He said so, and he is really nice."

"Lauren, that's my brother you're talking about," Bethany said, trying to keep calm.

"I think I really like him too," Lauren carried on as if she hadn't heard Bethany.

"Lauren, you need to sleep on this," Bethany said, holding Lauren's shoulders and looking directly into her eyes.

"You're right, let's go," Lauren sighed, wanting to get away from the lake.

They stood and walked back towards the main building.


	6. Chapter 6 The Mission Briefing

Chapter 6 – The Mission Briefing

**CLASSIFIED**

MISSION BRIEFING FOR: JAMES ADAMS, LAUREN ADAMS, BETHANY PARKER, JAKE PARKER

THIS DOCUMENT IS PROTECTED WITH A RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TAG

DO NOT PHOTOCOPY OR MAKE NOTES

_The Junior West Yorkshire Karate Championships_

In 1973, a man named Charles Whinston opened a Karate Dojo in the city of Leeds for the purposes of training children how to defend themselves against unmatched opponents. His first class consisted of five children, all of whom were rather rich. As time passed on his classes became more and more popular. After a year Charles had to hire a further two instructors to help teach all the classes that were run. After another year Charles moved to larger premises and created the Young Members Karate Club. From this club sprouted a number of students who were adept at martial arts.

In 1982 Charles took 20 of his best students into the town centre and gave a demonstration of the skills the students had procured. Watching the performance were several other Karate Masters who had taken on students of their own. After several long winded talks the Karate Masters agreed to have a competition to see who the best fighter was. Five students from each of the four training institutes came together and a competition was undertaken. After the competition was over the Masters agreed to meet every year.

By 1989 the competition had brought in attention from all of West Yorkshire, and thus the Junior West Yorkshire Karate Championship was born. In 1993 the JWYKC officials decided to open the floor to the whole of Yorkshire, and several years later, to the whole of England. It has run successfully every single year since. People attend from all over the country, and from all classes to witness and to participate in the event. In 2000 the event was given permission to be filmed. It is divided up into 8 rounds, the last four of which are filmed on live television.

_Cause for Concern_

At an event this big there is bound to be people who will bet and gamble on the contestants. Unfortunately when gambling questions arise then so do the possibilities of someone trying to fix the competition. In 2005 a competitor collapsed after what appeared to be exhaustion, but after a blood test it was found that the child's blood had high levels of steroids in it. The child was only 11 years old, so it was assumed an adult gave the child the steroids. The child was put under investigation, but could not or would not reveal the details of the people who had given him the steroids. The parents were investigated but nothing turned up, similarly with the Dojo where the child trained.

The child in question was a big runner to win, and a lot of people would have made a lot of money if he hadn't collapsed. During the investigation it was discovered that a man named Leroy Jacobs made a very substantial bet on the child, and lost everything when the investigation started. In the next year Leroy made a substantial bet against the winner of the previous year and won.

_Leroy Jacobs_

Leroy Jacobs works as a manager in a games shop in Leeds City Centre. He has one child, aged 13, named Arnold Jacobs, and a wife named Helen Jacobs. He has never boasted about money and would, by all friends and neighbours, be described as a mild mannered man. The sudden large amount of money that was placed as a bet is strange, considering his job doesn't pay that well and he has never been known to gamble before. His two consecutive bets on two competitors who weren't suspected to win but had a good chance to are a cause to be suspicious.

_You're Mission_

Should you accept there are to be two primary objectives:

You are to infiltrate Leroy Jacobs's house, and plant bugs and listening devices to gain information to determine if Leroy has any knowledge of the competition being rigged, where he is getting his money from, and how he seems to always bet on the right person.

You are to take part in the competition and find any information about anyone offering a way to cheat, or information on anyone that is cheating. You are to plant listening devices in the changing rooms to hear the talk that is being said when you're not around.

_Safety and Precautions_

This mission has been classified as MEDIUM RISK by the Ethics Committee. It has been done so because of the possibility that you will be caught on camera. This is the only foreseeable risk, but it is still strongly advised that you watch your back in case these people are rigging the game.

CHERUB agents are reminded of their right to refuse this mission or withdraw at any time.

***

James finished reading first. He put the mission briefing back on the desk and sat back in his chair and waited for the others. Bethany finished second, quickly followed by Lauren and the Jake.

"So what do you think?" John Jones asked.

"I'm up for it," James answered.

"Me too," Lauren said.

"I'll do it," Bethany added.

"Yeah sure, don't see why not," Jake finished.

"Splendid, I'll get the documentation to Zara straight away, we'll be leaving in two weeks," John said cheerily. "Make sure you get lots of training in."

"One question," James blurted out.

"Yes?" John questioned.

"If this is a martial arts contest, why didn't you ask Bruce?" James asked.

"We thought about that, but he is too prideful, and we fear he might not be able to stop himself once he's out there. With the 5th round and more being filmed we can't risk him losing it in the ring and getting through to the final, he'd be exposed completely. It would also seem odd if he get through to round four and then suddenly couldn't do it anymore. Pure and simple, he is too good and too prideful," John explained.

"Seems fair," James answered.

"So who will be doing what?" Bethany asked.

"You and Jake are going to enter the competition, that way we can get bugs in both the male and female changing rooms. Lauren you are going to make friends with Arnold and introduce him to James, then you both can work on getting into his house," John explained.

"Alrighty then, I get to fight," Jake said with a grin.

Bethany slapped Jake over the back of the head and Lauren laughed at him.

"Don't encourage him," Bethany said with a sigh.

"Sorry," Lauren said through a laugh.

Jake started giggling and he and Lauren burst out laughing.

"What's with these two?" James asked Bethany.

"They're weird, that's what," Bethany said, looking at James with a scowl. "Just like you."

James briefly smiled at her, where normally he would have scowled. John, who was watching all of this, shook his head at the four children.


	7. Chapter 7 Revelations

Chapter 7 – Revelations

Lauren, Jake, James and Bethany stood in the corridor outside John Jones's.

"Bruce is gunna be pissed when he hears about this," James sighed.

"I know, but what can we do?" Lauren asked. "John has a point about him, he is kinda psycho."

They all stood around, not knowing what to say or do.

"One of us has to tell him," Bethany said.

"Wouldn't it be better coming from a member of staff?" Jake asked, "I'm not being funny but I don't want to be in the room if he loses it."

"So brave you are," Bethany scowled at him.

"I'll tell him," James chirped in, before an argument broke out, "he's one of my best friends and he won't go psycho on me, and out of the four of us I'm probably the best at handling him."

"I'll go for that," Jake said quickly.

"You sure?" Bethany asked.

Lauren heard a touch of sincerity in her best friends voice and looked at her sideways.

"Ahh don't worry about me, I can do anything," James said with a grin.

"Alright then, if you say you can," Bethany said.

Lauren looked at her briefly, wondering what was going on.

"But when you your arse handed to you I want a front row seat," Bethany added, realising she'd been too sincere before.

"Don't worry pipsqueak, I'll tell him it was your idea not to take him if he kicks off," James said scowling at Bethany, though he really wanted to just laugh.

"Well its settled then, you'll tell Bruce," Lauren said, killing an argument before it started.

Lauren turned round and headed off down the corridor, Jake followed close behind. When they were out of sight James started grinning at Bethany.

"I almost thought you were sincere when you were worried about me," James said laughing.

"Who knows, I might have been," Bethany replied with a smile.

James stopped laughing. Bethany turned to run after her friend.

"Oi!" She shouted, "don't leave me with this arse."

***

There was a knock at the door. Bruce looked up at the door. He was reading a comic book about a martial artist who was given super powers by an ancient spell.

"Who is it?" Bruce shouted.

"James," the door replied.

"Come in," Bruce said, throwing his comic to his side and sitting up.

James poked his head round the door, and then strode in. He sat down on a chair at Bruce's desk, far away from his hands and feet, though if it came down to it, he knew it wouldn't matter where he was.

"What can I do for you?" Bruce asked.

"Me, Lauren, Jake and Bethany have been given a new mission," James said cautiously, even though he knew Bruce wouldn't go violent until he heard what the mission entailed.

"Congratulations," Bruce said with a smile, "what's it to do with?"

"Someone might be rigging a tournament and we have to investigate it," James answered, "but there is something about it, and it might piss you off."

Bruce was a little surprised, but wanted to know more.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"The tournament, it's a martial arts tournament." James said quickly.

Bruce was speechless. James could tell that he was starting to get mad.

"Why didn't they ask me?" Bruce asked, trying to be calm, but his agitation came through his voice.

"They think you're too good, they think there is a chance you won't be able to stop yourself, and the second half of the events are being filmed, so if you got into the fifth round then you'd be exposed to the media all over the country," James explained.

This seemed to calm Bruce down a bit, but he was still annoyed.

"I presume you're gunna be an entree," Bruce said.

"No, me and Lauren are on surveillance for someone who might be rigging it," James replied.

Bruce was silent for a moment.

"That means Jake and Bethany are going to be entering, right?" He asked finally.

"Yes," James answered quickly.

"This is so unfair, this should be my mission," Bruce said out loud.

"I know, we decided it was best it came from one of us rather than you hearing a rumour or being told by staff," James explained.

"Thanks man," Bruce said, faking a smile.

James nodded his head and felt like he should leave.

"Why Jake?" Bruce asked as James was about to stand.

"They want him partnered with Bethany because they look like brother and sister, and they need a male entree to plant bugs in the changing rooms," James answered.

"Ok, but why Bethany?" Bruce asked, raising his voice.

"She's young enough to pass for an entree I guess," James said, shrugging.

"But, she's completely immature, and stuck up," Bruce shouted.

"Hey, come on," James said, raising his voice higher than he wanted to, "she's not that bad and she can be mature when she wants to be."

Bruce was shocked, so much so that he couldn't speak. James realised he was now standing, and had just defended his 'enemy' very boldly.

"I thought you hated her guts?" Bruce finally managed to get out.

"I do," James said quietly, "I mean I did, but..."

"But what?" Bruce asked, interjecting. "You don't just hate someone then become their friend instantly."

"I don't know, I just don't think she's as bad any more, and she can be really nice if you get her on her own," James replied.

He instantly knew he had said too much and Bruce jumped on it faster than lightning.

"On her own?" Bruce asked loudly. "When have you two ever been on your own?"

"Well it was after I hit Dana, I was on the fire escape stairs thinking things through and she walked in. Then we got talking, and I realised she's not as much of a toad as I first thought," James answered.

"Is that all that happened?" Bruce asked, with a sly smile.

"Yes," James said, but let his face lie.

"Tell the truth, James," Bruce said, prodding into James's interactions with Bethany.

"Well, we met on the stairs again, purely by coincidence, and I told her that I was allowed on missions again, because Dana admitted she wanted to cheat on me, and then Bethany hugged me, and I hugged her back," James explained.

"This is too much, 20 minutes ago I thought you two were enemies, now you're hugging each other?" Bruce asked. "Wow, it's funny how things change so quickly."

James laughed at Bruce's inability to grasp what had happened.

"So what's _actually_ going on between you two?" Bruce asked, the mission completely forgotten.

"Nothing, we're just friends," James insisted, "well secret friends, but just friends."

Bruce smiled and shook his head.

"James, my boy, no two people are _just_ secret friends, there has to be something going on," Bruce said, going to his knee's on his bed.

"Well we are," James said, with a gleeful smile, as he thought he was winning the discussion.

"You like her don't you," Bruce said, more a statement than a question.

The statement took James by surprise and he hesitated to answer.

"No way, we're just friends," James replied.

"Really?" Bruce asked rhetorically, "so what was it like to hug her?"

James cast his mind back to the hug, but he let it wander and spoke without thinking first.

"She was so soft and warm, I could've stood there for ages, it felt nice to just hug someone," James said, adding the last part when realising what he had said.

"See, you do like her," Bruce said grinning.

"I don't!" James said, shouting but laughing.

"Just admit it, I won't say anything," Bruce said.

"No, I don't like her," James said, still laughing.

"You seemed to be defending her pretty badly," Bruce said.

"You're being ridiculous, I was defending a friend," James insisted.

"James, my dear, if you just admit it then maybe there is something you can do about it," Bruce suggested.

James thought for a moment. He thought back to how Bethany had made him feel during that first conversation, how he felt when she hugged him, and smiled at him, and laughed at a joke they'd shared. He remembered her touch when he hugged her. He remembered the sincerity in her voice when she asked him what was wrong. He looked at Bruce.

"There we go," Bruce said.

"What do I do?" James asked meekly.

"You have to find out if she shares those feelings," Bruce suggested, "then if she does you two can make it work."

"I gotta go find her," James said, standing up.

He headed for the door.

"Go get em, tiger," Bruce said.

James looked back and smiled. He then walked out the door and headed for Bethany's room. When James had gone Bruce burst out laughing on his bed.

***

There was a knock at the door. Lauren only just heard it over her music that was turned up loud. She looked at the door then ran to her CD player to turn it down.

"Sorry," she shouted.

"It's me, Bethany," Bethany called out.

"Oh, come in," Lauren replied.

Bethany opened the door and slid through, closing it behind her.

"Sorry, thought it was one of the others telling me to turn it down," Lauren laughed.

Bethany let out a brief laugh, and then headed for the window. She stood and stared out at the dark sky.

"It's really cloudy out, I think it might rain," Bethany said quietly.

Lauren was surprised by this, and thought it was an odd thing to come to someone's room just to say that.

"Yeah, we might even be in luck with some lightning," Lauren said, grinning.

Bethany let out another brief laugh, but her mind was out of the window.

"What's wrong, Beth?" Lauren asked. "You look pre..."

"I'm falling for your brother," Bethany interrupted.

Lauren's mouth hung open. There was a moment of complete silence, Lauren frozen with an open mouth and Bethany still looking out of the window at the clouds, which were slowly getting darker.

"What!" Lauren shouted.

"James, I'm falling for him," Bethany said, turning round to face her gaping best friend.

"I don't know what to say," Lauren admitted.

"Tell me what I should do," Bethany said, looking desperate.

"I don't know what you should do," Lauren admitted, "I have a million questions to ask before we get that far."

"Like what?" Bethany asked simply.

Lauren was shocked, she could see in Bethany's face that it wasn't a joke, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

"When did all this start?" Lauren asked.

"I bumped into him on the fire escape and we got talking, I think that's what started things off," Bethany answered, so calmly it was almost creepy.

"How come you're acting so weird?" Lauren asked, noticing the strange calmness.

"I..." Bethany began but she couldn't finish.

Lauren looked at her, wanting her to go on.

"I think I'm panicking," Bethany finally got out.

Lauren smiled at this thought. She coughed a laugh, and then cracked up. She burst out laughing and had to sit down from laughing so much.

"This isn't funny!" Bethany said, stamping her foot.

"It really, _really_, is," Lauren managed to say through laughing.

"I can't stop thinking about him, when I see him it takes me all my strength not to smile at him, and I think he feels the same but I'm not sure, but recently whenever I spend time with him it's the happiest I've ever felt, and when I hear him laugh it just makes me feel soo good," Bethany blurted out, "and I hugged him once, and I wished I'd never have to let go."

Lauren stopped laughing. Suddenly she was stunned back into silence.

"Wow," was the only word she managed to say.

"I mean, I really like him, and I care about him, I didn't think I did until we talked on the fire escape, but I really do care about him, and..." Bethany went on, "and... and I don't know, I just want to be with him."

"Wait, this isn't just a crush is it?" Lauren said, standing back up and looking her best friend in the eyes. "This is serious, the real thing isn't it?"

Bethany looked deep into Lauren's eyes. It was a moment which you could tell that these two were going to be friends forever. There was an unspoken trust right then between the two. Bethany nodded her head.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Lauren shouted, making Bethany jump.

"What do you mean?" Bethany asked, in confusion.

"Did he hug you back? Does he smile at you when you smile at him? Does he share private jokes with you? Did he tell you stuff you wouldn't expect him to?" Lauren asked.

"Yes, to all," Bethany answered, beginning to realise what Lauren was getting at.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to say this but," Lauren shouted, getting excited, "get the hell outta my room and find my bloody brother!"

Bethany grinned. Lauren pointed to the door. Bethany turned and ran. She ran out of the room and towards James's room.


	8. Chapter 8 Nightmare

**Author Note**

This chapter takes place during the time difference between the corridor scene and when James goes into Bruce's room in Chapter 7. I apologise for any confusion this causes, but I've been working on where to put this chapter for a while and that is the best place I can think of.

Chapter 8 – Nightmare

"Hi, Jake," Lauren said.

The stars were shining bright, brighter than normal it seemed. Jake was stood by the lake side. He turned round to face Lauren, and when he did he smiled.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Lauren said, half smiling.

Jake looked at her in admiration. He loved it when she smiled at him.

"Shall we walk?" Jake asked, indicating the way forward with his hand.

"That'd be good," Lauren answered, beginning to walk.

They walked in silence for a while. Jake had been practising what he was going to say for ages, but now, in the moment, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Lauren saw this in his face and decided to help.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Lauren said.

Jake stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"You already said that," he pointed out.

Lauren stopped also. She turned around and looked at him. They stared deep into each other's eyes for just a moment.

"I mean, I'm sorry I kept you waiting for me," Lauren blurted out.

Jake didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak but words just wouldn't come to him. Lauren smiled at him.

"I do like you, Jake, and I think if we really tried it might turn out to be really good," Lauren admitted.

Jake stepped forwards. He couldn't speak and he thought he couldn't move, but he now found strength in his legs and arms. He put his arms around Lauren and burrowed his head into her neck. Lauren laughed at him. She kissed the top of his head gently and put her arms around him. They stood, swaying in each other's arms for nearly a minute. Jake broke away.

"We can make this work," Jake said, grinning.

Lauren slid her hand into his and they both set off walking around the lake.

***

Several days later Lauren was sat in the dining hall. She had a plate of sausages and chips in front of her and she was quite happily indulging in the greasy food. Bethany came up to the table and sat down.

"My god, you're brother is so annoying," Bethany huffed.

"Why can't you two just get along?" Lauren asked.

"Because he's an idiot, and I know he's your brother but I absolutely hate him," Bethany replied.

Lauren laughed at her, she had recently realised that if she didn't laugh when her brother and her best friend started arguing then she'd probably end up hitting both of them with something large, heavy and painful. It was here that she once remembered a dream. James and Bethany were having a slanging match in the dining hall and Lauren got sick of it. She grabbed whatever food she could from the trays and threw it at the two. James ended up with mashed potato all over his hair and Bethany ended up, somehow, with a sausage stuck up her nose.

As if on cue James came over and sat down.

"Hey sis," he said to his sister. "Hey vile-thing-that-doesn't-pass-for-human."

Lauren laughed again, imagining the sausage. Bethany scowled at both of them. Jake appeared at the other side of the table.

"What you laughing at?" Jake asked Lauren, ignoring the other two.

"These two," Lauren replied.

Jake sat down. He grabbed his fork and started stuffing his face with food.

"What they do now?" Jake asked, with his mouth full.

"Jake, swallow before you talk!" Lauren scowled at him.

Jake took a large gulp before talking again.

"Sorry, didn't mean to upset you," Jake pleaded, "I'm really sorry."

The other three looked at Jake quizzically.

"What?" Jake asked. "I just don't want Lauren to be mad at me."

After this there was an awkward silence, and it remained there until Lauren asked Jake to get her some more pudding for her. Once he had gone James and Bethany rounded on Lauren.

"Ugh, he is so clingy," Lauren huffed.

"You two are going out?" James asked, genuinely shocked.

"They have for a few days, nincompoop," Bethany snapped at him.

"It was the biggest mistake of my life," Lauren admitted.

All three of them heard a plop behind them. They all turned round slowly, Lauren expecting the worst.

Jake stood in the middle of the Dining Hall. Tears filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He was stood frozen to the spot, every eye was on him.

"You..." he managed to say.

Lauren turned bright red, she'd never live this down if Jake made a scene.

"You don't like me?" Jake managed to finally ask.

"Jake, it's not that I don't like you," Lauren said quietly.

"But I love you," Jake shouted.

Lauren didn't know what to say. Her face burned as everyone stared at her. Whispers started to erupt around the room.

"I love you and you just throw it in my face!" Jake yelled.

"Jake, calm down," Lauren pleaded.

"No, you bitch," Jake shouted out.

James stood up to face off to Jake. Jake backed away.

"Fine, you can all just piss off!" Jake shouted.

He bent down and picked up the pot of pudding. He lobbed it across the room and hit Lauren in the head. He then ran from the room crying. As soon as he was gone laughter erupted around the room. Everyone swarmed on Lauren.

"Kiddy fiddler!" They all shouted, and chanted.

Lauren looked round to her brother for help but saw he was also one of the people chanting. She looked to Bethany but she had disappeared. Lauren burst into tears but it didn't stop. The staff were just carrying on as normal.

***

Lauren woke with a start. The thoughts of the nightmare she had just had rushed back into her head. She thought about what it could mean. She thought about Jake. She knew then that it was a realisation. Lauren might like Jake, but there was no way it would work, not until they were both older. She got out of bed and went to her window to look out at the stars, but it was cloudy. She stared at them for a bit, and then glanced down at the lake. She could see Jake stood by the lake side. She grabbed her coat and went out after him.

Down at the lake Jake was skimming stones across the water. He hadn't managed to get more than three bounces before the stone disappeared beneath the waves.

"Hi, Jake," Lauren called to him.

Jake turned round. He smiled as he saw Lauren approaching him and the sound of her voice made him feel warm inside.

"Hey Lauren," he replied.

His smile stopped when he saw the expression on Lauren's face.

"We need to talk," Lauren said firmly.

Jake nodded his head, his smile completely gone.

"First I wanna say, I do like you Jake," Lauren started, "but I can't go out with you, I can't see it working just yet. We both need to be older before we do anything and if we're going out then it'll make this mission a bit more complicated if something goes wrong. I do care about you Jake, I really do, I just can't yet."

Jake stood still, fighting back the tears.

"Don't you mean I'm too young," he managed to say.

"We are both too young," Lauren repeated.

Jake couldn't say anymore. He let his tears go and he ran. He ran towards the main building, bawling his eyes out.

"Jake!" Lauren shouted after him, but he either couldn't hear her or he was ignoring her. "I'm sorry."


	9. Chapter 9 Rain

Chapter 9 – Rain

James reached Bethany's floor and ran towards her room. As he got three doors down, one of the other doors burst open and Jake flew out. James stopped immediately, nearly falling forwards as he did.

"Listen you little brat," a voice boomed from inside, "I am not gunna help you get Lauren."

Jake stood up, tears streaming down his eyes.

"You're a git Bryan," Jake screamed, "I only wanted help."

James looked inside the room. A 14 year old CHERUB agent was stood inside, his fists in bunches and his face boiling in anger.

"It's not my place to help you, Jake," Bryan shouted.

Jake turned to run, but ran straight into James. James was looking at him, in confusion and agitation.

"You fancy my sister?" James asked.

"Leave me alone," Jake said, barging past and going at a run.

A hand grabbed the door handle of the open door.

"Sorry you had to see that, James," the red headed CHERUB agent said.

"Don't worry about it, Bryan," James said, with a smile.

Bryan nodded to him and then closed the door. James shook his head, putting the events in the past. He then set off back running down to Bethany's room.

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knocked again and again, getting louder and louder. Another younger agent came out of their room, with sleepy eyes and pale green pyjamas on.

"Stop being so loud," the CHERUB complained.

"Sorry, but I need to find Beth," James said, "and oh my god, I just called her Beth, I never call her Beth."

The CHERUB didn't understand what was going, and because of the time, he didn't care.

"I think she went to Lauren's room," the CHERUB replied.

"Ugh," James moaned, "thanks little guy."

The CHERUB yawned and went back inside. James set off down the corridor. Lauren's room wasn't that far away. He ran the seven doors back the way he'd come and arrived at her room. He burst through the door, hoping that Bethany would be in there.

Lauren jumped up from her bed.

"Jesus Christ!" Lauren shouted.

James was panting slightly.

"Where is she?" James asked, frantically.

"Who?" Lauren asked, though she really knew who.

"Bethany," James said quickly, "I don't have time to explain, but I need to find her."

"I know where she is but I wanna know why you want to know," Lauren said, slyly smiling as she made her brother squirm.

"Listen," James said firmly, "I am going to search this entire campus until I find her, so you'd be saving me a lot of effort if you just tell me where she is."

Lauren's smile dropped.

"You are really that serious about her?" Lauren asked quietly.

"Yes, I am," James said, gaining control of the panting. "I _need _to find her, I can't wait."

Lauren thought for a second.

"She went to your room, but if you're not there I don't know where she'll have gone to look for you," Lauren explained.

James nodded his thanks and ran back towards his own room, in hopes that she will have waited for him.

Bethany reached James's room. She put her hand on the door knob and took a breath, patting down the nerves. She twisted the door knob and pushed the door open. She expected James to be laid on his bed, but he wasn't.

"James?" she called out.

There was no answer. Bethany checked the bathroom but it was empty. She remembered the last time she had been in here, and the distinct lack of clothes James had been wearing. Her stomach lurched and she decided it was best to get out of the room before she got too excited by her thoughts.

Out in the corridor she made a snap decision to ask Bruce if he'd seen James. She went to his room and knocked quietly on the door.

"James, I already told you, go and find her, stop wasting your time here," Bruce shouted from inside.

A moment later the door opened and Bruce stood there. When he saw Bethany his face went deathly pale.

"Go and find who?" Bethany asked, worry rising in her mind.

"He's gone to find you," Bruce admitted, still in shock.

"Damn it!" Bethany shouted.

She realised where else he might be. She turned and ran towards the fire escape. She pushed the fire escape doors open and began to run down to the bottom.

The next floor up, James burst through the fire escape doors. He headed down the two flights of stairs to his own floor. He pushed the fire escape door open and sprinted down the corridor. He noticed Bruce had just turned to go back into his room.

"Bruce!" James shouted.

He didn't hear him, and shut the door. James slammed into the door and burst into the room. As he did, he realised that it had begun to rain outside.

"Has Bethany been here?" James asked without saying anything else.

"She _just_ left for the fire escape," Bruce said, getting tired of these two missing each other.

James didn't say anything else, but ran out to the corridor. He ran towards the fire escape but it opened before he got there. Jake was stood on the other side. He was absolutely soaking wet. He walked towards James with a face that could make an ogre feel bad.

"What happened?" James asked, stopping running.

"Was out in the rain, Bethany told me to stop being stupid and come inside, I think she's still down there," Jake said without even stopping.

James grinned and ran for the fire escape.

Bethany had reached the bottom of the stairs. She saw that James wasn't there, and was about to go back up when she had realised the fire escape door was open at the bottom. She pushed it open and looked out. Through the pouring rain she saw Jake stood alone in the middle of the car park. Bethany ran out, gasping as the cold rain soaked her brown hair.

"What are you doing out here?" Bethany shouted.

Jake turned around.

"Just thinking," Jake said, coldly.

"About what?? It's pouring down out here," Bethany shouted at him.

"Lauren doesn't like me, what am I supposed to do?" Jake replied. "She's the first girl I've really liked like this."

"Oh stop being stupid, this is one of the reasons why she won't go out with you, you need to grow up before anything can happen between you two, she does like you but she doesn't want someone who acts like a child as a boyfriend," Bethany snapped. "Now get inside."

Jake pushed past her and ran to the fire escape. Bethany screamed out to the night and stood there looking at the sky for a minute.

"Bethany!" A voice called from behind her.

"Bethany!" James called to her.

He was walking slowly forward, not caring about the rain, not caring about the cold, only caring that he had finally found Bethany. She turned round to him. By now her hair was dripping wet. James stopped about half a meter from her.

"I've been looking for you," James said.

"You too," Bethany replied, "I must look a mess because of this rain."

"You look beautiful," James said, but went red straight after.

Bethany didn't know how to reply to that. She had never been called beautiful before. She smiled, at James and because of him. James, too, didn't know what to say next. His heart was beating so fast that it threatened to break out of his chest. He took a step forward. Bethany's stomach leapt. James took another step. He put his hand on her shoulder, and ran it down to her hand. She gripped his hand softly and stared deep into his eyes. James took his other hand and gently brushed some of Bethany's hair away from her mouth and eyes. He then leaned forward. Bethany's eyes closed at the same time as his. Their lips met and the moment they did time seemed to stop. They let their hands go. James put both his hands behind Bethany's back and pulled her towards him, tightening his grip on her, and making the kiss last even longer. Bethany rested her arms on James's shoulders, and closed her hands together around the back of his neck. The rain poured and poured, but they didn't care, because now, in that moment, they were together and they never wanted to part. They broke the kiss, even though neither of them wanted to. Bethany smiled up at him and James smiled down at her. There was no need for words, and if they spoke it would only spoil a perfect moment.

Kerry stood at the fire escape door. James hadn't closed it properly. She watched as he and Bethany kissed. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she passed the sadness stage and hit anger in an instant. Rage boiled up in her blood. She turned, her hair flying round her. She began to walk towards the stairs. A lightning bolt struck the building and knocked out the power. Kerry continued walking as if it hadn't happened. She put one hand gently on the banister and walked up the stairs, her boots making an echoing sound as she walked. Another bolt of lightning flashed, lighting up the stair way for an instant. Kerry was lit up for a moment, her anger seeping into the light before it disappeared.


End file.
